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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26878141">a surprise gone a little wrong.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyroallerdyce/pseuds/pyroallerdyce'>pyroallerdyce</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>(not at all spooky) skywalkers series [october writing challenge 2020] [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - 1960s, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/M, One Shot Collection, Prompt Fic, Short One Shot, Tumblr Prompt, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, october writing challenge</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:13:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,253</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26878141</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyroallerdyce/pseuds/pyroallerdyce</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Padmé woke up on the morning of their tenth wedding anniversary ready to see what type of flowers Anakin had gotten her this time.  For their first anniversary, it had been roses, and for every anniversary since he had changed what type of flowers he had given her.  Perhaps this year would be lilies.  Or maybe irises.  Or maybe even Padmé’s most recent favorite, oleanders.  Whichever flower they would be, Padmé would treasure them and their scent as it filled the penthouse for the next few days.  </p><p>But when she went out into the kitchen, there were no flowers waiting.</p><p>or: it's their tenth wedding anniversary and Anakin's surprise goes a little wrong.</p><p>(these will really make little sense unless you read the whole series.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>(not at all spooky) skywalkers series [october writing challenge 2020] [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947904</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>October Writing Challenge - 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>a surprise gone a little wrong.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>attempt to break my writer's block day 7.</p><p>how are we at day 7 already?  anyway, just so you all know, at day 12 we're going to shift into the han/leia part of this crazy series I've developed in my head.  </p><p>if you like what you read here and you want to see more, please let me know via a comment or kudos or bookmark so that I know I'm not writing into a void.  enjoy!</p><p>october 7: "I thought you had forgotten."</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>1963</b>
</p><p>Padmé woke up on the morning of their tenth wedding anniversary ready to see what type of flowers Anakin had gotten her this time.  For their first anniversary, it had been roses, and for every anniversary since he had changed what type of flowers he had given her.  Perhaps this year would be lilies.  Or maybe irises.  Or maybe even Padmé’s most recent favorite, oleanders.  Whichever flower they would be, Padmé would treasure them and their scent as it filled the penthouse for the next few days.  </p><p>But when she went out into the kitchen, there were no flowers waiting.</p><p>She was instantly confused and upset, but after a moment, she told herself to be calm.  Perhaps Anakin had been delayed in getting the order to the florist.  He was in the middle of another merger after all and there was very little that he was thinking about besides how he could make this new acquisition work without having to lay off the entire staff of the company that he’d just bought.  So, of course, he’d been a little late with the order and the florist just didn’t have them ready for this morning.  They’d come by lunch, surely.</p><p>Padmé went about getting things prepared for breakfast, shaking her head when she realized that Anakin had probably fallen asleep in his study again since she didn’t hear him moving around the penthouse.  The twins were still asleep in their rooms and so Padmé enjoyed the last moments of peace that she’d get before Luke and Leia were running around and acting like the furniture made up an indoor jungle gym.  She grabbed plates and silverware and headed to the dining room table, sure that Anakin had at least put her card on the table like always.</p><p>But there was no card on the table.  </p><p>There wasn’t the small wrapped box that usually accompanied the card either.  The small wrapped box that she knew was going to contain a new piece of jewelry that she could wear to the event that she had to accompany Anakin to on Friday.  She still struggled with the fact that these pieces of jewelry likely cost more than her childhood home was worth, even though it had been ten years of receiving them.  She hadn’t thought there would be such a need for all of that jewelry, but Padmé had learned very quickly that repeating her jewelry for events instead of keeping up a steady rotation was a major social faux pas, and she didn’t want to embarrass Anakin any more than she already had.</p><p>Anakin had assured her that she hadn’t, and Padmé still didn’t know if he was just being polite and saying what he thought she wanted to hear or not.</p><p>So, there were no flowers and no card and no small wrapped box, and Padmé was losing her grip on calm and veering quickly towards being upset.  Ten years was a major milestone.  Surely Anakin realized that and would want to celebrate their anniversary as much as she did.  Shaking herself from her thoughts, she left the dining room and walked towards Anakin’s study, carefully opening the door so as not to startle him.  </p><p>But Anakin wasn’t in the study, and a search through the rest of the penthouse turned up a note on the dresser in their bedroom that said Anakin had left around five a.m. to go into the office early.</p><p>Forget calm.  Forget upset.  </p><p>Now Padmé was furious.</p><p>Their tenth anniversary and he went into work early without ever having mentioned that he was thinking of doing so, leaving behind a note that was so nondescript that Padmé had missed it the first three times that she’d walked by that dresser that morning.  The more she thought about it, the more she realized that Anakin hadn’t even mentioned that they would be going out to dinner that night.  Not a word about having Owen and Beru come over to watch the twins.  Just a note that made Padmé so angry that she tore it up into tiny pieces before throwing them away.</p><p>How could he have forgotten their anniversary?</p><p>She heard Luke’s voice as he came running out of his room and she forced a smile onto her face.  She was not going to let her children know that she was this upset.  No, she was going to cook the twins breakfast, and then they were going to go to the Central Park Zoo.  That was the perfect way to spend the day.  </p><p>She would think about everything but Anakin for the rest of the day, she decided.  And then he could find out what sleeping in his study was like that night.</p><p>The zoo was everything Padmé wanted it to be and more.  Educational but fun for the children and a great distraction from the fact that her husband had forgotten such an important day for her.  She hadn’t thought of Anakin once the entire time they were there.</p><p>Well, except for whenever she looked at Luke, because he looked just like his father, and whenever she looked at Leia, because she had Anakin’s eyes, and any time she glanced at her hand and saw her wedding rings, and yeah.  She’d thought about him a lot.</p><p>But she was angrier than ever and he was going to hear about it.</p><p>When they got back to the penthouse, Padmé was surprised to find that Owen and Beru were there.  Beru took one look at Padmé and shook her head.  “Anakin didn’t say a thing, did he?”</p><p>“A thing about what?” Padmé asked, setting her bags down.  “And when exactly was he supposed to say whatever it is?  He went into work at five a.m. and I haven’t even spoken to him yet today.”</p><p>Beru sighed heavily.  “I told him he was going to fuck this all up if he kept it as a surprise.”</p><p>Padmé looked up at that.  “Surprise?”</p><p>“You didn’t actually think that he forgot about your tenth anniversary, did you?  Because you know better than that, Padmé,” Beru said, grinning when Leia came running up to her.  “I’ll watch them.  You go get packed.”</p><p>Padmé’s eyes widened.  “Packed?”</p><p>“Just overnight,” Beru said.  “He’s got a special night planned for you.”</p><p>Padmé sighed and shook her head.  “I’ve been so angry with him all day.”</p><p>“Oh, he knows too,” Owen said as he walked into the room with Luke on his back.  “He thought he’d get a phone call at the very least, but you didn’t do that and he realized he’d made a serious error in judgment.  He just wanted to surprise you.”</p><p>“Well, he could have surprised me and still bought me flowers,” Padmé said, her voice slightly bitter.</p><p>“He didn’t even buy you flowers?” Beru said.  “Anakin, you moron.”</p><p>“Be honest with me,” Padmé said, looking between Owen and Beru.  “Is what he’s got planned that special that he had to ruin my day to get me to enjoy it?”</p><p>“Special as can be,” Owen said.  “But you should still yell at him for ruining your day.  That is unacceptable to me, and it should be to you too.”</p><p>“Yes, yell at him, but save it for tomorrow,” Beru said.  “Just enjoy the night tonight.”</p><p>Padmé reached out and ran her fingers through Leia’s hair.  “I’ve never left them for the whole night before.”</p><p>“I know you haven’t, but Padmé, they’re nearly six.  They can handle one night away from you two,” Beru said.  “Owen and I will keep them occupied and tire them out, and everything will be fine.”</p><p>“And you know where we’ll be so you can call if things are not fine?”</p><p>“We have all of that information already,” Owen confirmed.  “Don’t worry about that.”</p><p>“Mama, can we read stories?” Leia asked, but before Padmé could answer, Beru spoke.  </p><p>“Your mama has to do some things, so how about you and I go read stories?”  When Leia nodded, Beru took her by the hand and looked over at Padmé.  “Wear something nice for dinner, pack just enough for the night, don’t worry about Anakin because he already packed his things, and we’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”</p><p>“Beru,” Padmé called out as she started to walk away.  “I don’t know where I’m going or how I’m supposed to get there.”</p><p>“You’ll see,” Owen said, making sure he had a good hold on Luke before following his wife.  “Someone will ring the penthouse when your driver gets here.”</p><p>Padmé watched as they disappeared down the hallway, letting out a small laugh when the thought of her anger came back to her.  Only Anakin could make her so exasperated.  She hated every second of it, but in the end, she always loved him more because of it.</p><p>She headed into their bedroom, found a suitcase, and packed just enough stuff to stay overnight somewhere.  Then she returned to her closet and looked through her dresses, trying to decide which one to wear for dinner.  In the end she chose a dress knowing that it probably wouldn’t fit and she carefully tried to put it on.  Incredibly, to her surprise, the dress did fit, and Padmé looked at herself in the mirror for a long time, just running her hands up and down the soft fabric.</p><p>She hadn’t worn that particular red dress since their first dinner out after they were married.  Ten years.  It seemed so long ago and yet still so fresh in her mind that Padmé could almost swear that she could taste the glass of wine she’d drank that night.  They were young and happy and in love then, a future with so much promise ahead of them, and for her to be able to stand there ten years later and wear the same dress made everything come together in her mind.  They might not be as young anymore, but they were still happy and in love, and despite Anakin’s botched attempt at an anniversary surprise, Padmé wouldn’t change the way things were for anything.</p><p>After fixing her hair and choosing the right jewelry, Padmé picked up the suitcase and went back into the main living space.  She had just set the suitcase down and was going to go check on the children when the telephone rang, and after answering it, she learned that her driver was there.  She hung up the phone, glanced towards where the sound of the twins laughing was coming from, and then picked up the suitcase and made her way out of the penthouse.  It was probably better for Luke and Leia to just think Mama and Papa had gone to dinner like usual than it would be for Padmé to take an hour to say goodbye.</p><p>Besides, she’d be back roughly twelve to sixteen hours from now.  It would go by so fast that she wouldn’t even notice it.</p><p>The driver was waiting downstairs, Padmé got into the backseat of the sedan, and then she was watching the City go by as she was driven to wherever Anakin had chosen.  </p><p>When the car pulled up in front of the Waldorf Astoria, Padmé smiled.  When she walked into the hotel to find Anakin standing in the lobby waiting for her, she grinned.  And once they were in the same room they had spent their wedding night in and Padmé found that it was full of gardenias, she turned to Anakin and spoke softly.  "I thought you had forgotten."</p><p>“Never,” Anakin said, wrapping his arms around her waist.  “The day I married you is the best day of my life.  Having the twins enter our lives is a very close second, but marrying you is and always will be the greatest thing I’ve done.  I’m sorry that I made you think that I forgot such an important milestone in our lives.”</p><p>“It’s alright,” Padmé said, settling her head on his shoulder.  “You’re making up for it now.”</p><p>“I have a whole evening planned,” Anakin said, smiling.  “Dinner at our favorite restaurant and tickets to that show you’ve been wanting to see on Broadway.  I decided upon the hotel room because if there is ever a night to have a twins-free evening, it’s our tenth anniversary.  They’re in good hands with Owen and Beru.”</p><p>“Oh, Ani,” Padmé said, pulling back and giving him a kiss.  “I love all of this.  But I have one request.”</p><p>“Anything, darling.”</p><p>“Next time,” Padmé said, her voice suddenly hard and cold.  “Tell me that you have a surprise for me that night.  Don’t leave me to think that this doesn’t matter to you anymore.”</p><p>“I will tell you that a surprise is coming next time, I promise,” Anakin said, caressing the side of her face.  “I have seen you every day for the past ten years, and yet somehow you are more stunning now than you were on our wedding day.”</p><p>“You don’t have to lie to me,” Padmé started, but Anakin cut her off with a kiss.  </p><p>“I’m not,” he murmured.  “Now, how about we head out to dinner so we can catch the show on time?”</p><p>Padmé nodded and they gathered their things, leaving the room and stepping into the elevator.  Anakin slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close, and Padmé leaned her head onto his shoulder.  “I love you,” Padmé said after a few moments.</p><p>“I love you too, Mrs. Skywalker,” Anakin replied.</p><p>Padmé just grinned.</p><p>Mrs. Skywalker.</p><p>Still had a nice ring to it.</p>
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